EVOLUTION OF TRAINING AT MR. LUBE (CONCLUSION) Senior VP Bill Tickner had decided that his paper-based training system was not an effective tool for ensuring that the geographically dispersed...

EVOLUTION OF TRAINING AT MR. LUBE (CONCLUSION)

Senior VP Bill Tickner had decided that his paper-based training system was not an effective tool for ensuring that the geographically dispersed workforce had the competencies required by Mr. Lube. After investigating many alternatives, Mr. Tickner found his solution in partnering with the e-learning company, Acerra Learning, Inc., and Q9, a provider of outsourced Internet infrastructure and managed hosting services. Mr. Lube began conducting its training over the Internet, using a learning management system (LMS) developed by Acerra. Mr. Tickner felt sure that the system was working because employees were completing oil changes and safety checks more quickly now that they were being coached with an LMS. For Mr. Lube, e-learning presented a compelling business proposition. It provides training on a just-in-time basis to employees anywhere in the world. It allows on-the-job training and self-paced learning. For Mr. Lube, an important component was that the LMS can monitor the progress of each employee and administer and score online tests to ensure that each employee has the required competencies. Mr. Lube blends electronic training with worksite mentors assigned to the trainees. The LMS data are complemented by online progress reports from these worksite mentors.

Mr. Lube planed to eventually integrate its LMS with other corporate information systems such as payroll and human resources. Mr. Tickner saw an advantage to having all employee information stored in one place. This would allow the mining of these data to improve systems and make better decisions. As with many other companies, Mr. Lube found that advancing their technical capabilities in training has pointed the way to technical advances in other aspects of HR.